• Defence Notes

  Analysis: China gains ground in Africa

  6th October 2016

  Throughout the Cold War era, several sub-Saharan African countries turned to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to procure equipment for their armed forces. With …

• Military Logistics

  C295W in aerial refuel testing

  6th October 2016

  The C295W medium transport aircraft has demonstrated its ability to operate as an airborne tanker during a test flight carried out in late September, Airbus …

• Land Warfare

  AMRAAM-ER fired from NASAMS

  6th October 2016

  Raytheon’s AMRAAM-ER missile has been successfully fired from the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) system in Norway, the company announced on 4 October. AMRAAM-ER …

• Defence Helicopter

  AUSA 2016: Trends and hot topics

  5th October 2016

  Tony Skinner and Tim Fish discuss the key US Army trends and hot topics for this year's AUSA in Washington DC. 

• Defence Helicopter

  AUSA 2016: Future attack helo lighter, more lethal

  5th October 2016

  The replacement of the AH-64E Apache attack helicopter under the Future Vertical Lift (FVL) programme is likely to see a smaller, lighter helicopter introduced, rather …

• Land Warfare

  Elbit gunner's station for Bradley vehicle

  5th October 2016

  Elbit Systems of America will supply the Gunner's Hand Station for the US Army's Bradley Fighting Vehicle under a $7.3 million contract announced on 5 October. The …

• Land Warfare

  AirTronic wins launcher contracts

  5th October 2016

  AirTronic has been awarded new contracts from undisclosed customers in the Asia-Pacific and European regions for its rocket launchers and grenade launchers, it announced on …

• Naval Warfare

  Marchwood move delayed again

  5th October 2016

  Plans for a new joint venture between transport specialists David MacBrayne Ltd (DML) and global logistics firm GBA (Holdings) Ltd, to start running the Marchwood …

• Defence Helicopter

  Sikorsky orders CH-148 weapon pylons

  5th October 2016

  CPI Aerostructures has received purchase orders worth around $5 million from Sikorsky to manufacture the weapon pylon for the CH-148 Cyclone helicopter, CPI announced on 3 …

• Military Logistics

  HMS Westminster completes refit

  5th October 2016

  The Royal Navy’s Type 23 Frigate HMS Westminster has completed an extensive refit programme at Portsmouth Naval Base, BAE Systems announced on 3 October. A …

• Digital Battlespace

  Australian RCIED capabilities to grow

  5th October 2016

  EPE announced on 5 October that it has signed a trilateral agreement in principle to establish depot-level repair, spiral upgrade and advanced manufacturing at its …

• Defence Helicopter

  Poland scraps H225M buy

  5th October 2016

  The Polish government has cancelled its proposed plan to buy 50 H225M Caracal helicopters from Airbus Helicopters, media reports indicate. Uncertainty has surrounded the $3.5bn …

• Defence Helicopter

  Thailand orders additional H225Ms

  5th October 2016

  Airbus Helicopters will deliver a further two H225M Caracal (EC725) multi-role utility helicopters to the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) under an order announced on …

• Defence Helicopter

  Lockheed to produce more M-DSA kits

  4th October 2016

  Lockheed Martin will produce additional Modernized Day Sensor Assembly (M-DSA) upgrade kits and spares for US Army Apache helicopters under a $49.3 million contract announced …

• Defence Helicopter

  AUSA 2016: Apache to widen embrace

  4th October 2016

  The US Army continues to advance the manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) capability of the AH-64E Apache as it looks to the next evolution of its attack …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Medium Range Missile Defence Systems: 20-90km range

  GEM-T Missiles [Sweden]

  Background A coalition of European countries has signed a $5.6-billion contract to procure 1,000 Patriot Guidance Enhanced Missile (GEM-T) interceptors under the auspices of the NATO Support ...

• Transport/tanker aircraft

  A330 MRTT (1-9) [NATO]

  Programme Background Following operations in Libya and extensive analyses by the European Defence Agency (EDA), it was agreed at the NATO Summit in 2012 that ...

• Military helicopters - maritime

  MH-60R Seahawks [Norway]

  Programme Background NH90 NFH cancellation  The Norwegian government announced the termination of the NH90 NFH helicopter contract for 14 NH90s with NHIndustries in June 2022. Seahawk Acquisition ...

• Transport/tanker aircraft

  A330 MRTT Follow-On [NATO]

  Programme Background Following operations in Libya and extensive analyses by the European Defence Agency (EDA), it was agreed at the NATO Summit in 2012 that ...

• Main battle tanks

  New MBT [Romania]

  Programme Background Requirement The Romanian Army's MBT fleet is composed of T-55 variants that are due to be retired in the mid-2020s. Although Romania's TR-85 ...

• Military UAS - small

  Penguin C VTOL [Croatia]

  Background Announcment Redwire Corporation announced on 12 November 2025 that its wholly owned subsidiary, Edge Autonomy, had been contracted to deliver the Penguin C VTOL ...

• Main battle tanks

  M1A2 Abrams SEPv3 [Romania]

  Programme Background Requirement The Romanian Army's MBT fleet is composed of T-55 variants that are due to be retired in the mid-2020s. Although Romania's TR-85 ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  EU Next Generation Rotorcraft Technologies Project (ENGRT) - (Greece)

  Programme Background EU Next Generation Rotorcraft Technologies Project (ENGRT) EU Next Generation Rotorcraft Technologies Project (ENGRT) was announced in early 2022 and the project contract was awarded ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  EU next generation rotorcraft technologies project (ENGRT) - [Italy]

  Background ENGRT phase I EU Next Generation Rotorcraft Technologies Project (ENGRT) was announced in early 2022 and the project contract was awarded in December 2022. Phase I ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  Bayraktar TB2 [Kuwait]

  Background Contract Award On 18 January 2023, Baykar announced signing a $370 million export contract with Kuwait for the Bayraktar TB2. According to the announcement, ...

• Main battle tanks

  Leopard 2A8 [Netherlands]

  Background The Leopard 2A8, the latest in the Leopard family, was selected by the Royal Dutch Army as per announcements in September 2024.  Given the ...

• Military UAS - tactical

  UAV Tactical Level [Norway]

  Background Request for Information (RfI) In September 2022, the Norwegian Defence Material Agency (NDMA) launched a request for information in preparation for a possible procurement ...

• Corvettes

  European Patrol Corvette (EPC) [France]

  Background Requirements The European Patrol Corvette (EPC) is one of the new PESCO (Permanent Structured Cooperation on Defence and Security) projects. PESCO was established by ...

• Corvettes

  European Patrol Corvette (EPC) [Italy]

  Background Requirements The 2021-2023 Documento Programmatico Pluriennale (DPP) - a multi-year defence planning document from the Italian MoD - includes a plan to acquire eight "Patrol Ships", which ...

• AEW&C

  Alliance Future Surveillance and Control (1-10) [NATO]

  Background NATO’s E-3A AWACS fleet is set to retire in 2035, after 50 years of service. To plan for the required follow-on capability, NATO's Alliance ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Land: air defence radar

  APIS

  APIS is a passive high-resolution primary radar system developed by Indra. It is the first passive system in the world capable of offering images using ...

• Uncrewed aerial systems engines

  AE50R

  The AE50R is an aviation gasoline single rotary engine with an output of 40.4kW. The engine is certified according to European Aviation Safety Agency Part ...

• Military UAS - tactical

  LOTUS

  The LOTUS, Low Observable Tactical Unnamed System, is a tactical UAV especially designed for border patrol ISR operations.  The development of the project is funded by ...

• Helicopter engines

  Arriel 2H

  Safran Helicopter Engines received European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) engine type certification for its Arriel 2H engine, installed in the Avicopter AC312E, in April 2018. ...

• Military UAS - tactical

  AR5

  First announced in October 2012, the AR5 is a MALE UAS designed for SAR, surveillance and maritime patrol missions. The AR5 can be flown manually or commanded ...

• Trainer

  Gabriel-TP

  Gabriel-TP is a low-wing, two-seat tandem trainer aircraft aimed at both military and civilian customers. It is certified by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in ...

• Air: NVGs

  PNL-3M Orlik

  PNL-3M are high-performance, lightweight, passive stereoscopic NVGs for helicopter crew members. Certification by European Aviation Safety Agency also enables civilian use. The device can be ...

• Military UAS - small

  Capa-X

  The Capa-X, or U050, is a VTOL-capable fixed-wing drone from Survey Copter, a subsidiary of Airbus. The drone has been linked with France’s Système de Drone Tactique Léger ...

• Air: Integrated cockpit systems

  Standard 3

  Jointly developed by ATR and Thales, The Standard 3 avionics suite has been specifically designed for ATR-600 aircraft. It offers the pilot user-friendly interface, along ...

• CUAS - jammers

  DroneGun

  DroneGun enables controlled management of an adversarial UAS, causing no damage to the UAV or surrounding area. It either forces the drone to perform a ...

• Directed energy weapons

  Tryzub Laser

  Ukraine's Tryzub (Trident) laser was revealed during the European Defence Industry: Prospects for Cooperation with the Ukrainian Defence Industry conference in 2025. Video footage from ...

• Military - USVs

  NOMARS

  The No Manning Required Ship (NOMARS) is a US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) effort to develop a first-of-its-kind large uncrewed surface vessel.

• Uncrewed aerial systems engines

  Trident 100TD2

  The Trident 100TD2 is a compression-ignition engine that is capable of operating on various types of heavy fuel. It is claimed to offer up to ...

• Space: radar systems

  ESA Sentinel-1

  Sentinel-1 is a planned constellation of four satellites with two already in orbit and two on order. They carry a payload of a C-band SAR ...

• Air: chaff/flare/decoy systems

  Sky Buzzer

  Hensoldt’s Sky Buzzer is a towed anti-radar decoy originally developed by the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS). The system is designed to protect ...